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Tartary is part of massive area in Siberia.
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The wretch is consumed by such a degree of anger, hatred and injustice that all he can think about his revenge.
The light may be a symbol for logical thought- as it has been before, when the lightning struck the oak tree and began Frankenstein’s love of knowledge.
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Frankenstein has almost completely swapped roles with the wretch at this point.
Remember that the wretch was pursuing Frankenstein and wanting to torment him (which he did), and now Frankenstein is pursuing the wretch.
Frankenstein’s statement is evocative of the wretch’s cry in chapter 20:
You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains—revenge, henceforth dearer than light or food!
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The moon has been associated with the wretch throughout this novel.
Obviously the moon is eerie, but maybe the moon is also sad… Maybe the wretch does reflect human qualities, much like the moon reflects the sun’s brilliance.
The moon also embodies the Gothic mood of the novel: When the sun normally represents happiness and life, the moon (or the sun’s symbolic opposite) would represent a much more somber and depressed mood. Shelley repeatedly uses this image to maintain this tone.
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The painting by Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare (1781), inspired this image.
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Frankenstein places himself in a Christ-like position.
Matthew 27:46
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
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This is evocative, again, of Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
He holds him with his glittering eye -
The Wedding-Guest stood still
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Really Frankenstein?
This is a pretty ridiculous claim, and it illustrates Frankenstein’s ego-centrism.
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Even though it’s horrible, the wretch’s wretchribution makes some sense.
Since the wretch has no one, he will continue to kill off Frankenstein’s friends and family until Frankenstein doesn’t have anyone either.
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Frankenstein dreamed that this would happen in chapter 5!
I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms;
And this happened right after he created the wretch, so he predicted that he would end up killing her.
Notice the continued emphasis on lips.
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